Attacker who gnawed on man's face might have been on LSD, police say

Monday

May 28, 2012 at 4:45 PMMay 28, 2012 at 4:46 PM

MIAMI -- A man whose face and eyes were savagely bitten by a naked attacker in Miami remained in critical condition Monday, as police theorized that his assailant might have been on LSD, WSVN-TV reported.

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MIAMI -- A man whose face and eyes were savagely bitten by a naked attacker in Miami remained in critical condition Monday, as police theorized that his assailant might have been on LSD, WSVN-TV reported.

Questions about what led to the grisly, mid-afternoon attack on Saturday continued to swirl, but new details were emerging about the attacker, who was shot dead by police when he refused to move away from his victim.

A bicyclist who was riding by the scene on the off-ramp of the MacArthur Causeway told WSVN he saw the naked man leaning over and taking bites of the man's face.

Larry Vega said he managed to flag down a Miami Police officer. "Police officer came over, told him several times to get off and a police officer climbed over the divider and got in front of him and said, 'Get off!' And told him several times and the guy just stood his head up like that with a piece of flesh in his mouth and growled," said Vega.

Police believe the attacker was likely overdosing on a new potent form of LSD, the news station reported. "What's happening is whenever we see that a person has taken all of his clothes off and has become violent, it's indicative of this excited delirium that's caused by overdose of drugs," said Armando Aguilar of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police. "What's happening is inside their body their organs are burning up alive."

The victim, who might have been homeless, remained in critical condition Monday, according to WSVN-TV. Up to 75 percent of his face was missing and sources say they were "some of the worst injuries" they had ever seen.

The Miami Herald reported that the area where the victim was attacked is known to be frequented by homeless people, some of whom sleep there. The incident happened across the street from the Herald's office building, and police have asked for the newspaper's surveillance video.

Police had also suggested the victim may have been asleep when the attacker pounced.